Bajrang Dal leader found dead on Karnataka beach

The body of Jagdish Suvarna was found in communally sensitive Mangalore.

The body of Jagdish Suvarna was found on the banks of an estuary in Mangalore on Friday, a day after he went missing while attending a wedding. (HT photo)

A 35-year-old Bajrang Dal member was found dead on the banks of a beach in north Karnataka’s communally sensitive Mangalore town, police said on Saturday.

Police commissioner Chandra Sekhar said it was too early to say if Jagdish Suvarna was murdered but tightened security across the district to stave off any outbreak of violence from Hindu right-wing organisations.

Police said Suvarna was found on the banks of an estuary on Friday afternoon, a day after he went missing while attending a wedding.

Suvarna had recently been appointed the convener of the Bengre unit of the Bajrang Dal, which has been involved in several communal clashes in the region over the past three decades. The Bajrang Dal refused to comment on the death.

The region has a long history of Hindu-Muslim rivalry and usually sees hundreds of communal flare-ups every year. Last year, an RTI activist was hacked to pieces just days before he was supposed appear in court against a senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad functionary.